Fort Lewis FLC 4-8,1-3 RMAC

Chadron St. Chad 7-5,3-1 RMAC

Fort Lewis FLC

4-8,1-3 RMAC

Final

Sep. 23, 2023

Chadron St. Chad

7-5,3-1 RMAC

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	5	F
Fort Lewis FLC	23	25	25	23	6	(2)
Chadron St. Chad	25	21	23	25	15	(3)

Summary
Box Score

JoJo Lutz, Fort Lewis Athletic Communications

Sophomore Ella Butler put away 16 kills to lead the Skyhawks against Chadron State

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 9/23/2023 6:50:00 PM | Angela Roberts, Assistant AD - Communications

Volleyball falls in five to Chadron State despite Butler's career night

CHADRON, Neb. – Sophomore Ella Butler recorded a career-high with 16 kills, tying for a match-best, in a closely contested five-set loss to Chadron State College in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play on Saturday night.

Fort Lewis dropped to 4-8 overall and 1-3 in the league while Chadron State improved to 7-5 on the year and 3-1 in conference play.

The match was defensive in nature with the teams combining for 29 blocks and 144 digs. The Eagles held a narrow advantage in hitting percentage at .123 compared to a .115 clip for the Skyhawks. Serving was another key area for both sides with Chadron State edging out Fort Lewis 14-11.

Butler's 16 kills led the team, and she also contributed eight blocks and three service aces. Junior Alexis Hobie followed with 13 kills and 10 digs. Senior JJ Curry recorded 12 kills to go along with seven digs. Junior Sarah Wilkey had a career night in the back row with 22 digs to lead the team. Junior Natalia Lambos had a double-double with 42 assists and 13 digs in addition to seven blocks.

The Eagles benefitted from an early service run to see a five-point lead before an eventual error resulted in a sideout. Wilkey stepped back as the Skyhawks' first server and tallied a pair of aces to make it a 5-5 set. The teams battled back and forth with Fort Lewis seeing their first lead of the set behind a kill from Hobie to make it 9-8. The Skyhawks would force a timeout with a 14-11 lead after Hobie was credited with a kill and service ace
Fort Lewis remained in the lead despite scrappy play by Chadron State as another Hobie kill put her team ahead 20-18. Chadron State chipped away to tie the set three times down the stretch, bringing on a timeout at 22-all. Shea snuck a kill down the line out of the break, but Chadron State scored the final three points of the set to take it 25-23.

Fort Lewis began the second set with a three-point run and eventually was a 6-4 lead after a kill by Butler. The advantage remained in the hands of the Skyhawks with a kill from Hobie and a block by Lambos and Spragg making it an 11-7 score. The Eagles responded with a strong serving run, including back-to-back aces, to go ahead 15-14. Fort Lewis benefited from a challenge several points later, seeing a reversed score to make it 19-17. Butler rattled off a trio of points with a solo block, kill, and ace to put her team ahead 22-18. Fort Lewis made its way to set point, and Shea put it away with a thunderous cross-court kill.

The Skyhawks clawed their way out of an early hole in the third set to tie it at sixes thanks to a pair of aces from Butler. Curry earned a pair of kills, first with a slice down the line and next on a deep cross-court shot, to give her team an 11-9 advantage. The Eagles surged ahead out of a break to see a three-point lead, but the Skyhawks responded with three straight points to tie it at 14-14. The teams traded points from there with a pair of errors giving the home team a slight advantage late in the set. Out of a timeout, Shea secured back-to-back kills from both pins to make it 22-20 in favor of Chadron State. Fort Lewis continued to press ahead and claimed a 23-22 lead off a Hobie ace. The Skyhawks saw set point on an Eagles error, and Butler secured the set three win with a block.

For the first time all match, the teams were deadlocked through the opening points with seven tied scores bringing the score to seven-all. The Eagles went on to enjoy a three-point run, but the Skyhawks immediately responded thanks to kills by Butler to tie it again, this time at 11-11. The teams continued the tied score trend down the stretch before a pair of Chadron State blocks brought on a Fort Lewis timeout at 18-17. The break in action paid off as a service error resulted in another tied score. The Skyhawks committed three errors but responded with a Hobie kill to trail 23-22. It would be an eventual attacking error on Fort Lewis that would send to match to a decisive fifth set.

With over 40 tied scores throughout the first four sets, the fifth would be no different. The teams tied on three occasions early before the Eagles found a 5-3 lead. Chadron State continued to roll, taking an 8-4 lead after a pair of Fort Lewis miscues. Hobie broke the run with her 13^th kill of the night, but the Eagles earned an immediate sideout to lead 10-5. The roll continued into the final points of the match, capped off by a kill by the opposing libero to end it in a 15-6 score.

"It's never easy to compete on the road, and this weekend was no exception," said head coach Giedre Tarnauskaite. "Moving forward, we have to focus on executing the details that we work on in practice. We have to prepare to compete better next week."

Up Next
Fort Lewis (4-8, 1-3 RMAC) is on the road again next week with a pair of pod matches against Adams State and New Mexico Highlands. The matches will both be played at New Mexico Highlands in Las Vegas, N.M. First, Fort Lewis will face Adams State on Friday, September 29 for a 6:00 p.m. match. The Skyhawks are 21-29 all-time against the Grizzlies, winning last year's meeting in four sets.

The team will then face New Mexico Highlands to close out the trip on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. Fort Lewis is 29-24 all-time against New Mexico Highlands. Last year, the Skyhawks came away with two, four-set wins over the Cowgirls.

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